Published 9/29/19
By Greg Johnson
What If...
Your class is usually pretty organized. When there is a disruption, the teacher deals with it right away.
It’s nearing the end of the school year, however, and your teacher has become a little more lax. He’ll often leave the class for a few minutes to go to the office, or he won’t look up from his desk when there is noise during study hall.
On one particularly bright spring day, you’re in the library with the rest of your classmates. Though the teacher isn’t around, most kids are still doing their work. You heard a rumor during the first recess that Amanda likes Scott, but you haven’t seen them together on the playground yet. To your knowledge, Amanda’s never had a boyfriend.
You’re minding your own business, studying away in the library. You have a final project on insects due in two days and you’re going buggy trying to get it done. You’ve got three encyclopedias spread out in front of you and you are almost ready to put the finishing touches on the role of insect antennae. Suddenly, you hear some noises a few tables down, so you look up.
Amanda’s trying to get something back from Lois. It looks like a piece of paper. Lois won’t let go of it and Amanda is getting visibly mad. Lois sneaks it behind her back and hands it to Gary, who quickly hands it down to Paul, who gives it to Tami, who hands it to Abbey, who reaches across the table and gives it to you. You don’t know what’s going on, so you unfold the paper. It’s a letter to Scott... from Amanda! You can see it’s personal, and it says some things that would be really embarrassing to Amanda if you were to read it out loud. Which is what everyone wants you to do.
You’re faced with a dilemma: read the note and everyone in the room will laugh, or give the note to Amanda and everyone will groan and think you’re a jerk.
Questions to Think On
• What would you do?
• Why do people laugh at others who are embarrassed or made to look stupid?
• If it was a note that you had written, would you care if someone read it so everyone could hear, or would you want to have it back?
• Giving someone a break won’t always make you more popular, but it is the right thing to do. Why is doing the right thing sometimes tough to do?
What Does God Have to Say?
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another, be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.”
(c)
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